The L.A. 53

Gunfire killed 35, including eight people shot by law enforcement and two by National Guardsmen. Six died in arson fires. Attackers used sticks or boards to kill two others. Stabbings killed two. Six died in car accidents; two in hit-and-runs. One was strangled.

The violence crossed racial and ethnic lines. The dead included 25 African-Americans, 16 Latinos, eight whites, two Asians, one Algerian, and one Indian or Middle Easterner. Men outnumbered women, 48 to 5.

One of the more troubling statistics: 22 of the cases remain open, unsolved homicides.

Investigative reporter JIM CROGAN, using coroner's reports, police records and interviews, compiled these snapshots of the final moments of the lives of L.A.'s 53.

Taylor, a 43-year-old African-American, stood on a South L.A. street, where he had stopped on his way home from work. Someone drove by and shot him in the neck.

Franklin Antonio Benavidez

TIME: 8:35 p.m. LOCATION: 4404 S. Western Ave., South-Central L.A.

Southwest Division officers said they caught 27-year-old Benavidez robbing a gas station on South Western Avenue. When he pulled a gun on them, he was shot twice in the chest. He left behind a young child. It appears that a gunshot residue sample was never tested to prove that Benavidez had handled a weapon; the shooting was found to be justified.

Car trouble led to the death of Vela, a 33-year-old Mexican-American from Arvin, who was driving with two friends when their car broke down on Slauson Avenue. Vela stayed with the light-blue, 1986 Ford Taurus, while his companions looked for a phone. When they returned, Vela was on his back in the street, with a gunshot wound to the chest. Vela left behind a wife, Rosa, and an 8-month-old daughter.

A passing motorist found Netherly, a 21-year-old African-American, lying in the street and took him to Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center. He had been shot in the left eye. Netherly was a nurse's assistant.

Willie Bernard Williams

TIME: 9:30 p.m. LOCATION: Unknown

Williams, a 29-year-old African-American, weighed more than 300 pounds. Somehow he fell out of the back of his brother's truck and suffered severe head injuries. Williams' death, ruled accidental, was blamed on treacherous driving conditions.

It appears that this man's kindness cost him his life. Thirty-seven-year-old Willers, a white man from Salt Lake City, tried to help people involved in a head-on collision in Mission Hills. Passersby gunned him down, the fatal shot piercing his heart.

As Wilkins, 33, and some friends stood around their car, shots rang out from a passing car. A bullet hit Wilkins, an African-American, in the chest, ripping into his aorta. Wilkins' friends drove him to Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center, where he died.

Perilous driving conditions contributed to the death of Harris. The 38-year-old African-American was eastbound on Slauson Avenue in South-Central, when his car collided with another one at Avalon Boulevard. The riot delayed paramedics. He left behind a wife, Ernestine. No charges were filed.

Arsonists torched the J.J. Newberry Department store on South Western Avenue. Nearly four months later, on August 12, a worker found the body of Mustafa, a 20-year-old Indian or Middle Easterner, in the rubble. Mustafa had lived at 326 S. Normandie Ave. in the Wilshire District.

Anthony James Taylor Dennis Ray Jackson Sr.

TIME: Midnight LOCATION: 11,300 block of Alvaro Street

It appears these two African-Americans, Taylor, 31, and Jackson, 38, died in a shootout with LAPD officers near Nickerson Gardens Housing Project. Taylor was hit in the head; Jackson, in the back, the bullet shattering his spinal cord and slicing his aorta. Tests showed both men had likely handled or fired a weapon.

Hours after the jury verdict, a group of African-American men stood outside their North Hollywood apartment collecting donations to retry the white officers. One resident gave $2 and resisted demands to give more. He tried to run away but was hit on the head with a board. His neighbor, Rivera, intervened and was struck in the head, suffering a broken skull. He went into a coma, and his family removed him from life-support on December 16. A jury convicted Traville Craig, 19, of murder, and he received a life sentence with no chance of parole.

These three African-American robbery suspects, Pettaway, 38, Channell, 26, and Mallory, 18, died in a police pursuit. Mallory, the driver, lost control and slammed into a fire hydrant and brick wall. Police said the suspects tossed out a gun and stolen property during the chase.

McCurry, a 45-year-old white male, was found dead on the street, shot through the right eye as he pleaded with looters not to burn down a store next to his house. He was a maintenance worker for L.A. County Parks and Recreation Department.

Ross, a 25-year-old African-American, burned to death inside a grocery store looted and torched in Koreatown. Ross died, curled up under a metal desk in the office, with a wad of cash in a pant pocket. The coroner ruled the death a homicide.

Brian Edmund Andrew

TIME: 12:30 p.m. LOCATION: 1116 N. Chester Ave., Compton

Compton Police officers said they saw Andrew, a 30-year-old African-American, looting a store on Chester Avenue. Andrew hit one officer in the head with a bottle, and another officer fired a shot at point-blank range, hitting Andrew in the face. The District Attorney's Office ruled the shooting to be justifiable.

Epstein, a 45-year-old white man from Orinda, was westbound on Slauson Avenue in South-Central, when someone in another car fired at his vehicle. The shot hit Epstein in the left temple. His Ford Thunderbird kept going until it hit a tree. While Epstein lay bleeding, rioters robbed him and looted his car. The crowd's hostility was so intense, police towed the car with the body still inside. Epstein had come to L.A. to check on his business. He left behind a wife, Stephanie.

The riot did not keep Monterey Park resident Lam, a 25-year-old Vietnamese-American, from trying to make deliveries for his family's small grocery. He was eastbound on Alondra Boulevard, in his 1989 Toyota truck with a camper shell, and stopped at a red light at Willowbrook. A late-1970s or early-1980s blue Cadillac pulled up, and a front-seat passenger, described as an African-American man in his early 20s, yelled a racial slur and opened fire, hitting Lam four times, three times in the chest and once in the back.

Sheriff's deputies chased a carload of suspects fleeing a looted jewelry store near 110th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard. When the getaway car crashed, the suspects ran a short distance and exchanged gunfire with deputies. Garcia, who had followed in another car, joined the chase. The 15-year-old Mexican-American was shot in the chest. A gunshot-residue test showed that Garcia had not held a weapon, the shooting was ruled justifiable.

Patrick Bettan

TIME: 4:45 p.m. LOCATION: 2740 W. Olympic Blvd., Koreatown

Bettan, a 30-year-old Algerian-born Frenchman, worked as an armed security guard at a shopping center, where he joined a group of armed storeowners defending their property. During one looting spree, Bettan was shot. The round blew off the top of his head. According to the coroner's report, Bettan's wound seemed "inconsistent with the weapons wielded by the rioters. It more nearly matched the high-powered rifles used by the shopkeepers." LAPD investigators determined Bettan had been accidentally shot by one of his employers. No charges were filed.

Lopez, a 36-year-old transient, was found face down on the street. He had been hit by a car. Lopez's family was never found, and the county eventually buried him. His death was ruled accidental.

Matthew Ellis Haines

TIME: 6:35 p.m. LOCATION: 1900 block of Lemon Street, Long Beach

A mob of a dozen or so African-American youth set upon Haines, a 32-year-old white man, as he rode his motorcycle with his roommate on back. They pulled Haines, a local motorcycle mechanic, and his friend off the bike, robbed them and shot Haines. Ironically, Haines was on his way to meet a black friend to help him move. Seven of his attackers were found guilty or accepted plea agreements.

Castro, 49, was shot in the back as he walked in East Hollywood. The bullet broke his spine and punctured his heart. A friend put the mortally wounded Castro in the back seat of his car and drove to the nearest contingent of police. The LAPD determined that a National Guardsman shot Castro. His death was ruled accidental.

According to Watson's aunt, her 18-year-old African-American nephew was standing with a large group of people when a gunman opened fire. Watson was struck in the head. Southwest Detective Supervisor Ron Richards believes people know who did it, but no one has come forward.

Police think that John Doe No. 80 -- the only unidentified riot victim -- died in a fire at Pep Boys. The body, discovered two days later, weighed 117 pounds, was nearly 5 feet tall, with brown hair, a mustache and a goatee. He was about 35 years old.

George Antonio Sosa

TIME: 8 p.m. LOCATION: 2600 block of Florence Avenue, Huntington Park

An unidentified gunman shot 20-year-old Sosa as he allegedly looted a store in Huntington Park.

Sniper fire hit Pineda, 20, as he sat with his brother and friends in a car in East Hollywood. A judge dismissed murder charges at a preliminary hearing; the case was closed.

Edward Song Lee

TIME: 9:50 p.m. LOCATION: Near corner of Third Street and Hobart Boulevard, Wilshire District

Lee, 18, a Korean-American living with his mom in the Wilshire District, was out with three friends when they got into a fight with another group of Koreans. Police responded to the gunfight and exchanged fire with both groups. Lee suffered two fatal hits to the chest as he sat in the front seat of a car. Someone in the rival group shot him. Detectives later learned the gun battle was a tragic mistake. Each group had been protecting Korean-owned stores and mistook the other for looters. Police made an arrest; no charges filed.

Cesar Augusto Aguilar

TIME: 10 to 11 p.m. LOCATION: 2009 W. Sixth St., Westlake

Police said they confronted Aguilar, a 19-year-old Honduran immigrant, at a convenience store in the Westlake area. When Officer James MacDonald ordered Aguilar to raise his hands, the officer said he saw the butt of a gun in his waistband. Aguilar lowered his arms and MacDonald feared he was reaching for the gun. The officer fired his shotgun and Officer J. Leuck fired one round from his handgun, hitting Aguilar in his back. The shooting was deemed justifiable. The body was turned over to the Honduran consul for shipment home.

Neal Jr., a 27-year-old African-American, was standing with another man when someone shot at them. Neal was hit in the head.

FRIDAY, May 1

Paul Douglas Horace

TIME: Noon LOCATION: 1439 E. Walnut St., South-Central L.A.

This murder may or may not be riot-related. Horace was involved in a drug deal gone bad. The 38-year-old African-American was fatally wounded as he tried to run from his killers. Horace left behind a wife, Donna. Two adults and a juvenile were convicted of murder.

Lucie Rose Maronian

TIME: 2 p.m. LOCATION: 1800 block East New York Drive, Altadena

Four knife-wielding African-American youths chased Maronian's son and a couple of his friends through their Altadena neighborhood. They sought refuge on a neighbor's roof. Maronian, a 50-year-old teacher's aide in Pasadena schools, tried to intercede. She was stabbed three times in the chest and twice in the back. Her attackers were convicted of burglary and assault; the jury hung on the murder charges. Sheriff's Homicide Lieutenant Joseph Hartshorne said his unit is reviewing DNA evidence and might once again seek murder charges.

Aaron Ratinoff

TIME: 4:30 p.m. LOCATION: 11,690 W. Gateway Blvd., West L.A.

In what has to rank as the most bizarre death of the riot, someone at Bob's Market in West L.A. strangled the 68-year-old Bel Air Estates resident in the produce section. A white male, Ratinoff was shopping at the store because it was the nearest market open. Ratinoff was buying vegetables, when he knocked some cornhusks to the ground. He began arguing with someone, and the situation escalated. Police made an arrest; no charges filed.

Heading down the Harbor Freeway, Orebo, a 22-year-old African-American, allegedly threatened a motorist, who turned out to be an off-duty LAPD officer. An off-duty L.A. Sheriff's deputy followed in the next car. It's unclear who started shooting, but people in all three vehicles exchanged fire. Orebo was thrown out of the car as it headed down the Florence Avenue off ramp. He had been shot in the head, back and left forearm. The shooting was ruled justifiable.

Betty Jackson

TIME: 7:30 p.m. LOCATION: Intersection of 51st and Main streets, Central City

Jackson, a 59-year-old African-American, was riding in a small Datsun, moving eastbound on 51st Street, when her car slammed into the back of a Ford van. Her death was ruled accidental.

Alfred Miller, a 32-year-old African-American, was shot in the neck in a drive-by shooting. The bullet broke two of his vertebrae, hit his spine and lodged in his shoulder. It appears an arrest was made, but the D.A. declined to prosecute.

Homicide investigators nicknamed Evanshen the Good Samaritan. His mistake was trying to put out a fire started by looters at a check-cashing store. The 24-year-old white man slipped through a weakened portion of the office roof and died from burns and smoke inhalation.

Authorities believe looters fatally beat Alvarez with sticks after the 40-year-old transient started throwing rocks at them to break up a stealing spree. Alvarez died on May 23. Gardena homicide investigator Mark Wilson believes someone saw the beating.

The body of Benson, a 43-year-old African-American, was found on the freeway near downtown, an apparent hit-and-run victim.

Juana Espinosa

TIME: 12:20 p.m. LOCATION: 7,600 block of Compton Avenue, Watts

A Sheriff's deputy believes the gunfire that killed Espinosa, 65, of South-Central was likely meant for police cars. Espinosa was shot in the chest as she walked down the street. She left behind a husband, Socorro. A Latino juvenile was convicted of murder and an assault with a gun on another person and given a two-year sentence at a juvenile camp. "I know it's hard to imagine, a two-year sentence for murder, but it happened," says Sheriff's Homicide Lieutenant Joseph Hartshorne.

Fredrick Ward

TIME: 10:45 p.m. LOCATION: 11,900 block of Cometa Street, Pacoima

Ward, a 20-year-old African-American, was shot several times as he stood in front of a house. He left behind a young child. The case was closed by the LAPD.

A worker from a neighboring business found the body of Salgado, 20, inside a burned-out clothing store, Collective Merchandise Inc., on May 20. Authorities believe his body had been there since a May 2 fire. The death was ruled a homicide.

SUNDAY, May 3

Howard Eugene Martin

TIME: 12:40 a.m. LOCATION: 1279 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena

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Pasadena police shot Martin, a 22-year-old African-American, at a party that turned violent. Police cars sought help from a police helicopter, which was forced down by gunfire. As officers exchanged fire with party guests, Martin opened the apartment door and was shot in the head. He left behind a young daughter. The shooting was ruled accidental.

It was after curfew and Rivas, 31, was driving his 1974 Datsun 280Z in the Rampart area, near a National Guardsmen post. Authorities said Rivas was driving fast, and Guardsmen responded by pointing their rifles at his car. Rivas stopped, made a U-turn, and went around the block. As he approached the Guardsmen a second time, his car hit one of the soldiers, and others opened fire with their M-16s. In all, 14 rounds were fired, and Rivas was hit five times. LAPD's Rampart homicide detectives cleared the Guardsmen.